Cyclist groups may be too big for the roads

In the often fraught relationship between cyclists, drivers and pedestrians, there are concerns groups of cyclists have become too large for the roads.

More than 400,000 Western Australians now ride a bike at least once a week.

Last year, six cyclists died on WA roads and more than 1,300 went to hospital with injuries.

Garry Brennan is the spokesman for the Bicycle Network, a not-for-profit group that promotes cycling in the community.

He says cyclists choose to ride in big groups because they feel safer, but he agrees that groups riding more than two abreast that don’t allow cars to pass are doing the wrong thing.

“That is boorish, bad behaviour to block traffic like that. This is illegal but simply being in a big group is not,” Mr Brennan told John McGlue on the 720 Drive program.

“It’s actually quite safe being in a big group, because no-one misses you. No-one says they didn’t see you.

“The problem is that the groups are getting too big and the riders are getting too insensitive to road users on the road.

“They shouldn’t be three or four abreast.

“If the group is big and well disciplined, then generally speaking they will detect your presence behind them, they will wait until the road conditions are appropriate and then they will give you space to pass.

“The driver needs to have a little patience, because the group may be waiting for the right place.

“That’s what someone in the group should be doing. You will hear them yell out ‘car back’ and people will call out through the group and they will start to move left.”

Talkback caller Mary-Anne said she was a cyclist, a driver and a pedestrian and believes that cyclists' behaviour needs to change.

“I would say in general bike riders are extremely impolite to walkers and to other cyclists. Screaming ‘car back’ or ‘walker right’ just upsets people,” she told 720 Drive.

“People talk to me about it all the time because they know that I ride and they say that all cyclists are like that.

“In general, I think cyclists do need to change how they behave or there will be more restrictions put upon them.

“It may be safer for the group to shout like that but they don’t give fair warning to pedestrians. They can be right next to a pedestrian and yell ‘bike right’ and I have seen people jump, sometimes into the bike’s way.

“What they should do is have a bell but many of those cyclists do not have bells because they think it adds too much weight to their bikes.”

Garry Brennan agrees that there are some cyclists that are not doing the right thing.

“Like any group of road users there are extremists out there on the edge who just want to be aggressive and make life difficult for everybody.

“The only thing I can say about people like that is that I’m glad they are on a bike and not in a car, because the consequences could be worse.”